


Count, Down

by slotumn



Series: Wherever the Wind May Take Us [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Childhood Memories, Childhood Trauma, Chronic Illness, Family Angst, Gen, Hallucinations, Human Experimentation, Pre-Canon, Protective Parents, no beta we die like Glenn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:28:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22797064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slotumn/pseuds/slotumn
Summary: Her earliest memory is the sound of her siblings' and cousins' laughters.Her second earliest memory is the sound of herself screaming as all the blood is drained out of her body.A.K.A. Lysithea's childhood.
Series: Wherever the Wind May Take Us [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1593274
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30
Collections: Slotumn Portfolio





	Count, Down

Her parents said they always wanted to have a big family, and so her earliest memory is filled with the sound of her siblings' and cousins' laughters. 

Sometimes, relatives from other houses would visit, too. She still remembers Aunt Agnes, better known as Viscount Hrym, talking to her mother in both clear and hushed voices. 

Her second earliest memory is--

\--the sound of herself screaming as all the blood is drained out of her body.

\---

The mages in dark robes teach her how to do use magic. 

She catches on quickly, and they compliment her, give her sweets. 

She runs to her parents and shows off, feeling proud of herself. They hug her, pet her head, call her their little treasure, but go quiet shortly after.

When the dark-robed mages come to talk to them, she's pushed upstairs to her room.

"You won't grow big and strong if you don't sleep," they say.

"Your parents are right," the mages agree. 

She pouts, but does as she's told. 

\---

She wakes up crying from the pain frequently.

She doesn't _want_ to cry, but the tears and sobs are almost a reflexive, involuntary response, and it still hurts even when she curls into a circle to make herself warmer.

The silver lining is that her parents always come running into the room soon enough, to give warm herb tea and sing lullabies. Sleep returns only when she's tired herself out from all the crying. 

One night, before she passes out, she hears her parents whisper something like--

"Doctor...need to call a doctor..."

"Can't...they won't let us..."

\--but she doesn't have the energy to wonder what that means, exactly.

\---

Mama is the strongest and most beautiful person she knows. She wants to grow up to be just like that-- fearless and undefeatable with that big fancy rapier in her hands. 

But one day, a big, important-looking letter arrives, and Mama doesn't come out of the bedroom for two days. 

She gets more and more nervous over this, until she finally bursts into the room with the big bed, crying, saying she wants to see Mama. 

Mama looks tired with red eyes and nose, but gives her a hug as always. 

They have a long, comfortable nap in the fluffy blankets, and when they wake up again, they take a walk in the garden before praying for Auntie Agnes, Grandma, Grandpa, and everyone else in Mama's side of the family. 

\---

Papa is kind and gentle and reliable. He knows everything, and there isn't a problem he can't solve. 

One day, she says she wants to see her big brothers and sisters. Papa makes a strange expression for a split moment, then takes her out to the gardens, which now has lilies in full bloom. 

There are slabs of stone with her siblings' names written on it, and Papa says the goddess will deliver her message when she says it here. 

She asks if the goddess will deliver them candy, too, and he says yes, so from then on, whenever she gets sweets from the strange mages, she saves half of it to give her siblings. 

The candies are always gone the next day, so she decides that the goddess makes for a very good delivery service. 

\---

She wakes up in the middle of the night.

Downstairs, there's loud arguing, then a strange noise (spells?), then her parents yelping in pain. 

"I can't let you filth stay around my daughter for any longer," is one of the sentences she catches.

The reply is too muffled to make out, but a part of her instinctively knows that must be one of the dark-robed mages.

Ice-cold terror grips her heart, and she wants to go down to save her parents like they always saved her, but her body won't move. 

\---

The magic exercises get more and more intense, and so does the strain on her body. 

She does everything perfectly as usual, but now it's less for candy and more because she's scared of what might happen if she fails. 

On particularly bad days, she hears strange noises Mama and Papa can't, or spots figures in the shadows from the corners of her eyes. 

And when she's drifting in and out of sleep in the early mornings, the figures crawl out of the shadows. They don't say a word, but she knows they're coming to drain her blood again. 

Screaming doesn't work, so she desperately prays for the sun to rise and chase the ghosts away.

\---

One day, the mages tell her that next week will be the last of these little "lessons."

She's relieved, but on the outside, a nod is all the reaction they get. 

Her parents seem to feel the same, and when she demonstrates what she learned as usual, Papa smiles and quietly tells her she'll be a great count one day, while Mama says a proper lord should know how to use a sword and suggests she start doing some light training next week. 

"Does being a lord make you important?" she asks. 

"Yes," Papa answers, "but you're going to be very important regardless of your title, little treasure. I know you will be."

Mama nods and adds, "You can do anything you put your mind to, remember that."

Being complimented like that makes pride swell up in her chest, but for some reason, it feels a little heavy this time. 

\---

The night before the dark mages leave, she tiptoes down from her room to eavesdrop on what they're telling her parents. 

If they try to do something bad again, she would burst in and zap them with her magic.

"How...how could you...fucking bastards..."

"Please, isn't there a way to-- we'll do anything, please--"

And she readies herself to spring in, but the mages don't use any magic this time. 

Instead, they simply reply, 

"You heard what we said. That little daughter of yours will not live past twenty-five. Such is the consequence of having two Crests."

She runs back upstairs and desperately burrows herself into the sheets. 

Sunrise doesn't chase away the ghosts this time.

\---

Outside the Ordelia manor, a fifteen-year old girl stands, dressed up in the black and gold uniform of the Officer's Academy. Beside her are two adults, as well as massive bags full of everything a teenager would need away from home.

"I packed extra coats and gloves. It gets cold up there, trust me, so wear them."

"Remember to get at least eight hours of sleep per night, eat your vegetables, go to the infirmary if you're feeling sick, and don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it!"

"Most of the students will be older than you, but don't get intimidated when they brag. Empty vessels really do make the loudest sound."

"And watch out for people who try to charm you with shallow tactics! There's always a few of those who target younger, less experienced students for their unsavory ways..."

The girl's parents repeat the same advices and precautions they've already told a hundred times, and she can't help but sigh, even as she knows that's all born out of genuine love and concern.

"I know, I know...I'm not a child anymore, Mother, Father. I'll take care of myself just fine."

They look sad, but only for a moment before giving her a big hug. 

"Stay safe, little treasure," Papa whispers. 

"And remember to write often," Mama adds.

She snuggles in closer, and thinks it would be nice if her family could stay like this forever and ever, in a world full of sweets and lilies and happiness. 

"I will."

Then she tears herself away from the idealistic fantasy to board the waiting carriage.

If she wants her parents and people to live comfortably, if she wants to be a good daughter and a lord, even if she'll never officially inherit the title-- 

\--she can't stay a child any longer. 

Time is running out for Lysithea von Ordelia.

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is, the Lysithea piece that's like an ungodly mix of angst, horror, and fluff. 
> 
> According to the timeline, all the experiment stuff must have happened when she was very young, so I tried to convey how a child too young to even understand death would register the unsettling, suffocating events that went on in House Ordelia during that period.
> 
> Felt really bad for her parents while writing this one tbh. 
> 
> Also, new headcanon I snuck in there: Lysithea's mom is originally from House Hrym, and that's one of the reasons why House Ordelia assisted them.


End file.
